Clouds

When we look at clouds in the sky and watch them change we can see recognisable shapes form (a horse, a map of Britain, a face).

Our brains do exactly the same thing when we listen to people talk and watch their body language.

Ideas about what defines them can seem very clear and evidenced, but it’s only what we are comparing to the familiar.

It’s simply a cloud, constantly shifting and changing as it moves through it’s journey across the sky.

They’re simply a human being, constantly shifting and changing as they move through their journey in existence.

If clouds could talk and one were to call out “how am I going to make it across the rest of the sky?”, we probably wouldn’t answer “well you look like a rabbit, so try hopping!”.

We’d be more likely to say something like “by doing whatever you did to get as far as you have, I guess!”.

We’d probably also be fairly confident that they will make it, because we know that moving and changing is just what clouds do.

The different shapes clouds take on as they go through their journey depend on what shapes other clouds around them take on, as well as being influenced by environmental factors.

If two clouds converge they flatten as they collide. If a plane flies through a cloud, turbulance caused by its wingtips creates swirls.

Then they carry on.

Similarly, humans are shaped in the moment by the actions of others around them and by environmental factors.

If we view someone as unchanged from last time we saw them, they tend to conform, or at least appear to us to conform to that perception. If they get too cold they head towards a warmer place, if they find a door is locked they search for the key or open another door. If they get tired they stop what they’re doing and rest.

Then they carry on.

In the same way that clouds have the greatest propensity to take on any form, and move smoothly across the sky when they find themselves in open space with the least interference, humans naturally adapt and change most efficiently when afforded the space and freedom to do so.

This means that by keeping an open mind about what anyone we meet might feel, think or do next, putting aside any ideas about what would be most likely according to our ascribed definitions, we step out of their way and get to witness them take on their natural form.

They might then look like anything to us (even reminiscent of a rabbit perhaps!) but regardless, you can be fairly confident they’ll make it (or at least head in their preferred direction), because all this moving and changing is just what humans do.